Vehicle spring and gear



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. F. MORSE.

VEI iIGLE SPRING AND GEAR.

Patented June 5, 1888.

EEE

flit z Ill/VE/VTOH:

WITNESSES:

2 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.)

5. P. MORSE. VEHICLE SPRING AND GEAR.

ANT-

.gflyzzi u H O W/T/VESSES:

n4 PETERS. Pnmumo n w. Wahingmn, m;

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EVERETT F. MORSE, OF I'IHAOA, NEW YORK.

VEHICLE SPRING'AND GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383.974, dated June 5,1888.

Application filed July 8, 1886. Serial No. 207,029.

To all whom it; may concern.-

Be it known that I, EVERETT F. MORSE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Springs andGears, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle springs and gears, andhas for its ob- IO jects to provideaspring that may yield much .tion ofthe connecting-rods.

flexibility to even depression, and, at the same time as littleflexibility to rocking or pitching as may be desired, and, further, toprovide an improved bearing or joint for vehicle-springs by which theusual sliding friction is replaced by rolling friction, and, further, toprovide an improved means for restraining the front axle from tippingeither forward or backward. I attain these objects by the mechanismillustrated in the accompa nying drawings, .in which- Figure l is abottom view of a vehicle-gear with myimprovements, and having a portionbroken away to make room for Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsection of my gear on the line 1 2 of Fig. 1, showing my improved way ofsecuring the lower end of the kingbolt. Fig. 3 is a detail View of thestep and a por- Fig. 4 is an elevation of my spring; Fig. 5,a plan viewof the same with the bar 0 and one of the hangers e removed. Figs. 6 and7 show modified forms of the central part of my spring. Fig. 8 is adetail sectional view of one of my improved bearings or joints. Figs. 9and 10 are two projections of a modified form of the hangers to myspring. Figs. 11 and 12 are diagrams illustrating the mechanics of myspring, Figs. 13 and 14 are views of modified forms of the portion of myspring extending between the central bearings.

Similar letters refer to similar parts th rough out the several views.Referring to the drawings, A and B repre sent the front and rear axles,respectively; G, the bolster; D D, the side bars, which are connectedwith the rear axle and front bolster in the usual manner.

0 is the box or body of the carriage, and is supported by the similarsprings a a, which in the present case extend from one side bar (Nomodel.)

to the other. Each of these springs acts between its ends and twointermediate points, being supported pivotally at its ends by theshackles d, which are securely attached to either side bar, andsupporting the body at two points on opposite sides of the longitudi nalcentral line of the body by the hangers e e, and consists of theoppositely-extending supporting'arms a and two or more nearly or quitehorizontal parallel torsional branches, a, arranged between the axes ofthe pivotal connections of the spring with the body and extendingtransversely to the suppoi'tiugarms. When two in numbenas shown in Figs.5, 6, and 7, these torsional branches are rigidly connected to thesupporting-arms at one end and with each other at their opposite ends,thus permitting the ends connected with the arms to spring together orapart and follow the circular paths about the central bearings when thesprings are worked. Although these torsional branches may consist simplyof straight parts of the elastic rods, I prefer generally to form theparts of the rods composing the torsional branches into coils a, therebylocating a larger portion of the elastic rods into them.

Then the torsional branches a a extend wholly to one side of the planeof the springarms, two similarly formed rods may be clamped together, asshown in Figs. I and 5, by suitable clamps, the upper halves, e, ofwhich are adapted to be pivotally connected with hangers e, which aresecurely attached to and support the body. The clamps e are also adaptedto receive and securely hold the ends of the equalizing-rodspp, whichconnect the front and rear springs, as shown in Fig 1, and which, bytheir torsional action, tend to make these two springs depress alike andthus reduce the pitching of the body.

When my springs are used in combination with the equalizingrods p 19,these rods restrain them from tipping either forward or backward; butwhen these rods are not used I design the central bearings, as shown inFigs. 9 and 10, 'so that they will prevent the springs tippingrelatively to the body.

It is very desirable that the joints of a vehiclespring should be asquiet, durable, and have need of as little lubricant as possible. Toaccomplish this end I insert aseries of small cylindrical rollers, r,Fig. 8, between the two bearing-surfaces and parallel-to the axis of thejoint or bearing, so that when one of these surfaces moves relatively tothe other the small rollers will roll between them, and thus replace theusual sliding friction by rolling friction. When the outer bearingsurface is one of the eyes at the ends of the spring, a sleeve can beinserted, as shown in Fig. 8, to insure a continuous surface for thesmall cylinders r to roll upon.

My device for securely restraining the front axle from tipping eitherforward or backward has reference to staying the lower end of thevertical axis about which this axle turns, the upper end of this axisbeing secured in the usual manner to the bolster G; and it consists ofthe arms h, which have their upper ends rigidly attached to the sidebars,"D, and the rods or bars 12 a and i, which directly connect thelower ends of arms h to the lower end of the king-bolt 7s and to eachother, respectively. The arms h may also have securely attached to theirlower ends the steps m, as shown in Fig. 3, and thereby be utilized fora double purpose. The various members of the triangular bracing a n and2' act, in combination with arms h and side bars, D, to restrain thefront axle from tipping, as follows: Any effort of the axle to tipforward is resisted by a pull, and to tip backward by a thrust, in rodsn n, which in turn tend to throw arms h in the direction of therespective rods n, to which they are attached, either toward or from theking-bolt It. On account of the vertical transverse stiffness of theside bars, to which they are attached, these arms are well adapted toeffectively resist the components of these forces, which are parallel tothe side bars; but, on account of the torsional flexibility of the sidebars, the arm It might yield too readily to the components of theseforces, which are per pendieular to the side bars, were these componentsnot otherwise resisted. However, as these latter components always actin opposite directions, they are made to act against and thus neutralizeeach other by the rod t, which connects the lower ends of the arms h,and resists a thrust when the rods n a are subjected to apull, andconversely resists a pull when the latter rods are subjected to athrust.

Among the many ways of locating a large amount of elastic materialbetween the central points of action, three are shown in Figs. 6, 7, and13. The same end may be attained by forming this part of the spring intodeep transverse corrugations, as shown in Fig. 14. It may be observedthat my spring is reversible-- i. 6., that the spring may be supportedat the central bearings either by having these bearings connected withthe axle, bolster, or other wise, and support the side bars or body atthe ends.

In operation the portion of the spring extending between the bearings e6 acts as an equalizer to the depression of the parts of the bodysupported by these bearings by being simultaneously subjected to themoments of both supporting-arms. \Vhen the spring is evenly loaded,these independent moments tend to deflect the central part of the springin the same way,and in combination form nn1- form moments throughout thecentral part of the spring, as shown by the equal vertical ordinates ofmoment, (diagram of Fi 11;) but when the spring is subjected to rollingactiont'. e., when the terminal forces act in opposite directionstheindependent moments tend to deflect the central part of the spring inopposite directions, and so partially neutralize each other, and incombination form the variable moments shown in moment diagram of Fig.12. The practical effect of this is to cause thecentral part of thespring to yield much more flexibility to even depression than to rollingaction. The relative flexibility of the coils a a, Fig. 5, to these twomotions is shown by the relative lengths of the ordinates a o in the twomoment diagrams.

As the rocking motion of the body is the most objectionableaccompaniment of very flexible springs, the equalizing-spring shouldconnect arms supporting opposite sides of the body, so that it willlimit this particular mo tion to the desired amount.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A vehicle-spring consisting of two oppositely-extendingsupportingarms supported at their remote ends and pivotally connected tothe body on opposite sides of its central line at their adjacent ends,and an elastic rod or bar which is either a continuation of or has itsends rigidly attached to and extends continuously and freely between thebutt-ends of said arms, said rods being formed into two or more nearlyor quite parallel horizontal torsional branches arranged between theaxes of said central pivotal connectionsIand extending transversely tosaid arms, substantially as described.

2. A vehicle-spring consisting of two oppositely-extending armssupported at their remote ends and pivotally connected to the body onopposite sides of its central line at their adjacent ends, and anelastic rod or bar which is either a continuation of or has its endsrigidly attached to and extends continuously and freely between thebutt-ends of said arms,said rods being formed into two or more nearly orquite parallel horizontal coils arranged between the axes of saidcentral pivotal connections and extending transversely to said arms,substantially as described.

3. Avehicle-spring consisting of two elastic rods or bars having theirends pivotally connected to the side bars of a side-bar wagon, theircentral portions formed into oppositelyextending torsional branches, andthe portions extending outward from said branches similarly formed,clamped together, and pivotally connected to the body on opposite sidesof said branches, substantially as described.

4. A vehicle-spring consisting of two elastic ICO ITO

rods or bars having their ends pivotally connected to the side bars of aside-bar wagon and their central portions formed into similar coils a a,and the portions extending outward from these coils similarly formed andcloselyclamped together by clamps e 6, adapted to pivotally connect saidrods to the body at two points on opposite sides of the longitudinalcentral line of the body, said coils lying between the axes of thecentral bearings and being free to yield to the moments of both arms,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with a vehicle spring bearing orjoint, of a seriesof small cylindrical rollers inserted between the bearing-surfaces ofsaid joint and parallel to its axis, whereby as one of said surfacesmoves relatively to the other said small cylinders are adapted to rollbetween them, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the axles and side bars of a side-bar wagon, ofdependent arms having their upper ends rigidly attached to said sidebars, steps m, securely affixed to the lower ends thereof, and rods orbars securely attached to and extending between the lower ends of saidarms and the lower end of the axis about which the front axle turns,substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the side bars and extending from andhavingtheir upperends securely attached to said side bars, andahorizontal truss consisting of members diverging from its oppositeends, which are connected with and supported by the lower ends of saidarms, the central part of said truss being connected to and staying thelower end of the axis about which the front axle turns, substantially asdescribed.

8. The combination, with the side bars and axles of a side-bar wagon, ofdependent arms having their upper ends securely attached to said sidebars, rods diverging in two branches from and securely attached to thelower ends of said arms, the one branch extending to and pivotallyconnected with the lower end of the axis about which the front axleturns, the other extending between and connecting said arms,substantially as described.

9. The combination, with the axles and side bars of a side-bar wagon, ofarms h, having their upper ends securely attached to said side bars, andsteps m, affixed to their lower ends, rods n a, securely attached to andextending between the lower ends of said arms and the lower end of theaxis about which the front axle turns, and rod i securely attached toand extending directly between the lower ends of said arms,substantially as described.

EVERETT F. MORSE.

Witnesses:

SANFORD O. Gonna,

W. L. OSTROM.

